Building A Stronger Economy

Vision

A strong Michigan requires a strong economy, and a strong economy is based on jobs. Tom will fight for us in Lansing to ensure that every citizen has the opportunity to enter the workforce and to be paid a fair wage for their labor. He will fight to ensure the right of workers to form unions and bargain collectively will be protected, while job-killing restrictions like Right To Work will be repealed. Tom believes that a contract is a contract, and that pension promises made to retirees are inviolable. He will fight to grow new jobs through investing in improving Michigan’s infrastructure and public transit systems. This can all be achieved by ending handouts to corporate cronies and implementing a tax system that ensures the wealthiest pay their fair share. Tom will fight poverty, while ensuring that Michigan’s government will always be able to pay its bills.

Policies

Tom will work with businesses and the Department of Education to expand opportunities for job skills training for both school children and adults, ensuring that they can gain the soft-skills and technical know-how to compete for the jobs of the future. He will advocate for funding to continue the IT skills training program he helped pilot in 2011 with Congressman Hansen Clarke.

Tom will work to ensure that Michigan becomes a livable wage state, with a $15-per-hour minimum wage for all workers that is indexed to the Consumer Price Index.

Tom will stand in solidarity with organized labor against all attacks on collective bargaining and will never give up the fight to repeal Right To Work.

Tom will defend Prevailing Wage laws to ensure government projects are done by the highest-skilled and most competitive workers possible.

The state shouldn’t seek to balance its budget on the backs of retirees – Tom will continue to oppose all efforts to break union contracts and pension obligations for our retirees.

Tom will fight to implement his Transit and Infrastructure agenda to help hire Michigan workers and grow our consumer base. By letting working people earn money, we can generate the demand that will attract and grow even more jobs.

To pay for these investments, Tom will work with the Legislature to give strict scrutiny to all state-issued business tax breaks and end Lansing corporate welfare. He will also continue the fight to move toward a progressive state income tax.

Tom will work to help improve energy efficiency to drive down energy costs and reduce pollution through funding weatherization tax credits for businesses & individuals, while partnering with organizations like Young Detroit Builders to ensure that our neighbors and children are the ones hired for these jobs.

Tom will join with others in the legislature to spur investment by helping to support investment in new and early stage businesses by restarting the 21st Century Jobs Fund, which generated $7 in investment for every $1 spent, and will continue to fight for tax credits for Angel Investors.

Tom will fight to bring more jobs to our community while improving our environment through making Michigan a leader in recycling technologies. He will work to make curbside recycling universal while bringing advanced single-stream recycling facilities to the area.